Visit the Waterbury Republican @ www.rep-am.com

WOLCOTT

It was the only time Alex Thomas held back all night. He hesitated, ignoring the sheets of rain pounding the Wolcott High football field. But the question wasn't going away: "Do you think you're No. 1 (in the state)?"

"I'm not saying," he said while clutching a trophy about the size of Texas. Pressed again, however, he gave in just a bit. "Well I think we are, but ..."

Thomas and his Ansonia teammates will provide an answer in the next two weeks. On this night, however, there was no doubt. The answer was on the field. The answer rode home on the Holy Cross bus.

Ansonia was No. 1 and Thomas was No. 1. No ifs and or buts or doubts. No arguments. Case closed.

In the battle of unbeaten behemoths, the Chargers handled the Crusaders in the NVL championship game, 27-13. It wasn't a game of give and take, it was a game of take with Ansonia doing the taking -- something a lot of people didn't think could be done to coach Mike Phelan's talented group.

Nearly everyone said the game would be close.

Most called it a pick-'em. However, there some whispers that said Holy Cross. Running back Dan Mulrooney and quarterback Mike Croce. Receiver Dan Awwad. They run, they pass. Too much diversity, too potent.

Maybe Thomas heard, maybe he didn't care. But here was the diversity -- Thomas left, Thomas right, Thomas up the middle, Thomas in the end zone. Actually, it was more brilliantly redundant than diverse.

Potent? That was also Thomas to the tune of 258 yards on 31 carries and four touchdowns. When he burst up the middle for a 57-yard jaunt with just over a minute left to add the finishing touch to a performance that will occupy a prominent place in the scrapbook, there was nothing left to be said.

They list Thomas at 5-9, 175 pounds. On this night he was Andre the Giant. He broke tackles, he juked, he stutter-stepped, he danced. He dominated.

"I get the ball and I run. That's what you've got to do," said Thomas who now has 1,757 yards on the season along with 28 touchdowns. "I thought I would have a decent game, but it was wet and windy."

Oh, and the offensive line didn't get forgotten.

"Our linemen are the best in the state," Thomas said. "We have smart linemen. We have big linemen. We are like family."

As for Croce, Mulrooney, Awwad and the rest of the Holy Cross offense, they will have other days. They did not have this day. Not by a long shot. Mulrooney had one mind-boggling run in the first half when he carried half of the Ansonia team down the field and was seemingly ready to run back to Waterbury before the whistle blew. But the rest of the night was spent with a bevy of beefy blue shirts in his face.

Mulrooney was limited to just 21 first-half yards and finished with 84 on the night on 19 carries. There were two touchdowns, but every yard was a battle.

Croce had a difficult time throwing against a Charger defense that chased and chased, then chased some more. With Thomas running wild and Ansonia in full harassment mode on defense, the Crusaders never led and never threatened to lead.

"We just used the same defense we usually use," said Ansonia defensive tackle Ryan Lawler, who intercepted a pass.. "We just stepped it up. We said we can't do what we did last year, and played as hard as we could."

Ah, last year. Holy Cross 40, Ansonia 20. Not even close. Ansonia remembered.

"They came to our field and embarrassed us," said Thomas. "We had to get revenge."

Mission accomplished. In impressive fashion.

The huge looming and booming presence of former coach Jack Hunt dominated the sidelines as the seconds ticked down. He was passing out bear hugs at a rapid rate and had a smile worthy of a man who is 6-foot-8 and rarely lost.

Winning is a tradition and generational at Ansonia. The title was back. As for No. 1, well, one at a time. Thursday night, Alex Thomas and Ansonia were No. 1 in the NVL.

Nobody had to ask a question about this one. All they had to do was watch the show both during the game and after. Ansonia's night, Ansonia's title. Case closed.